README

Runs legacy Drupal code on a current Drupal core

Old modules keep calling the functions and hooks they were written against, and anachron supplies them on Drupal 11. It defines the functions PHP removed, adapts Drupal 7 hooks, routes, fields and forms to their Drupal 11 equivalents, and lets a site enable extensions that declare an older core.

Important

Requires PHP 8.3 or newer and Drupal 11.3 or newer. Every class loads against Drupal 11.4.11 and 12.0.0-beta2. The kernel tests run on Drupal 11.4.

Caution

Passing the version check says nothing about whether the code works. A module that enables can still call an API Drupal removed without a replacement. The legacy suite runs fixture modules from Drupal 7 through 10 and reports each such API as a skipped test with its reason.

🧩 What It Provides

Layer	Path	What it does
PHP	`src/Php`	defines functions PHP removed, under their original names, when the host lacks them
PHP	`src/Php`	rewrites removed syntax such as `$string{0}` to `$string[0]` with the PHP tokenizer
Drupal	`src/Drupal`	Drupal 7 functions, globals, `hook_menu`, field, block and form hooks, theme layer
Drupal	`src/Drupal`	opt-in switches for the version check and for Drupal 7 field array access

src/Php names no CMS, so it can move to its own package. src/Drupal started as a copy of Retrofit and is ported to Drupal 11.4 and 12.

🔧 How It Loads

Composer loads four files from autoload.files: src/Php/polyfills.php, src/Drupal/constants.php, src/Drupal/functions.php and src/Drupal/bootstrap.php. The last one registers Drupflare\Anachron\Drupal\Provider as a container service provider through $GLOBALS['conf']['container_service_providers']['retrofit'], and the provider decorates the core services that Drupal 7 code needs to see differently: the info parser, the menu link, local task and local action managers, the theme registry, the library discovery, the field type manager, the form builder, the entity type manager and the permission provider, among others.

Every function is guarded with function_exists(), so a function that core still defines wins.

📦 Installation

composer require drupflare/anachron

Copy the legacy module into the site and rename its NAME.info file to NAME.info.yml, adding type. A module that declares an older core needs the version switch below to enable. The getting started page lists the steps for modules and themes.

⚙️ Legacy Sites

Two switches are off by default, so a site that loads the package behaves like stock Drupal 11.

key	effect
`anachron_ignore_core_requirement`	enables extensions whose `core_version_requirement` excludes Drupal 11
`anachron_legacy_field_access`	lets field items take Drupal 7 array access such as `$item['value']`

With the version switch on, an extension needs no core_version_requirement. The declared value stays in anachron_core_requirement on the extension's info array, so a report can say how many extensions ran past what they declared.

Core's extension discovery builds its info parser before the container exists, so the version switch has to be set before Composer's autoloader runs. settings.php is too late for it. Set the key from the front controller or from a PHP auto_prepend_file.

$GLOBALS['conf']['anachron_ignore_core_requirement'] = true;

The field switch is read when the container builds, and settings.php works for it.

$settings['anachron_legacy_field_access'] = true;

Wrapping a field item hides the interfaces of the item underneath, which is why the field switch is opt-in.

🐘 PHP Compatibility

src/Php defines functions that PHP removed, only when the host has not defined them.

function	behavior
`each()`	returns the current key and value, advances the pointer, false past the end
`get_magic_quotes_gpc()`	false
`get_magic_quotes_runtime()`	false
`set_magic_quotes_runtime()`	true when asked to disable, false when asked to enable

create_function() and the mysql_* family are not defined. The first needs eval, and the second needs a database connection the host owns.

Drupflare\Anachron\Php\SyntaxRewriter::rewrite() takes PHP source and returns it with removed syntax replaced. It uses token_get_all() alone and keeps the line count.

🧪 Testing

PHPUnit has three suites.

suite	what it covers
`unit`	the PHP layer, the rewriter and the Drupal layer's classes in isolation
`integration`	the Drupal layer inside a kernel test, with the container and a database
`legacy`	fixture modules written for Drupal 7, 8, 9 and 10, running on Drupal 11

composer install
./vendor/bin/phpunit --testsuite unit,integration
./vendor/bin/phpunit --testsuite legacy --display-skipped

php tests/load-classes.php <drupal-root> loads every class against a Drupal checkout, one process per class, because a class that extends something core removed passes a lint run and fatals on first use. CI runs it against Drupal 11.4.11 and 12.0.0-beta2.

📚 Documentation

Drupal layer: getting started, supported APIs, hooks and globals, and caveats
Technical Report: what the legacy code looks like, and what each count and timing measured
Security Policy: what counts as a vulnerability and how to report one
API reference: built from the source docblocks with bun run docs

🔗 Related Repositories

Repository	What it is
`drupflare/worker`	the site: the Worker, the Durable Object and the batches anachron is tested against
`drupflare/drupflare`	the Drupal module that satisfies platform needs with Workers bindings
`drupflare/rom`	the Drupal 11 database driver for Durable Object SQLite

anachron does not require any of them. It runs on any Drupal 11 site.

🤝 Contributing

composer install
bun install

bun run lint     # php -l over every file
bun run lint:php # phpcs
bun run analyze  # phpstan level 5
bun run test     # phpunit, then the tooling tests
bun run test:classes /path/to/drupal
bun run boundary # src/Php may not name a CMS
bun run docs     # phpDocumentor into api/
bun run prettier:check

Files copied from other projects carry their own notice in NOTICE. bun run import:retrofit refuses a second run, so change the copied files in place.

📄 License

MIT (c) Gregory Mitchell 2026. See LICENSE. Retrofit's MIT notice is in NOTICE.

drupflare / anachron

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